different between insignificant vs jerkwater

English

Etymology

From in- (“not”) +? significant.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??ns???n?f?k?nt/
• Hyphenation: in?sig?nif?i?cant

Adjective

insignificant (comparative more insignificant, superlative most insignificant)

1. Not significant; not important, inconsequential, or having no noticeable effect.

   Such things are insignificant details compared to the main goal.

2. Without meaning; not signifying anything.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:insignificant

Antonyms

• significant

Derived terms

• insignificance
• insignificantly

Translations

Catalan

Adjective

insignificant (masculine and feminine plural insignificants)

1. insignificant (not important)

   Antonym: significant

Related terms

• insignificança

Further reading

• “insignificant” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “insignificant” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “insignificant” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “insignificant” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Occitan

Adjective

insignificant m (feminine singular insignificanta, masculine plural insignificants, feminine plural insignificantas)

1. insignificant (not important)

   Antonym: significant

Related terms

• insignificança

English

Etymology

US mid-19th century. From jerk (“to move with a sudden movement”) +? water. Refers to the need to supply the boilers of steam trains with water. In rural areas and small towns with no water tower, where the train did not stop, this was done by scooping ("jerking") water from a track pan.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /?d??k.w?.t?/

Noun

jerkwater (plural jerkwaters)

1. (US, historical) A train on a branch line.
   • 1975, Indiana Historical Society, Indiana Magazine of History, Vol. 71, no. 1 (Mar. 1975), page 355

     […] by bailing from near streams with buckets, (the brake-man called this operation jerking water) and from this the road gets its name of jerkwater road.

2. A jerkwater town.

Translations

Adjective

jerkwater (comparative more jerkwater, superlative most jerkwater)

1. (US, colloquial, derogatory) Of an inhabited place, small, insignificant, and backward.

Synonyms

• See: Thesaurus:remote place

Derived terms

• jerkwater town

Translations

Related terms

• jerk water
• jerk-water